The MysteriousTransfer Student
by SpicyDumpling
Summary: WIP. Hermione notices a new boy at the Slytherin table. He has long blonde hair,and keeps to himself. She is attracted to him at first, but is shocked when she finds out his true identity.
1. Chapter 1

            Everything was surprisingly quiet in the great hall, not many people were there at six in the morning. Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, reading up on History of Magic for Professor Binns. It wasn't that she enjoyed his class but she liked history. She was of course the only one who took notes, but mostly she just wrote down what she had read earlier that morning. She picked some toast up off her plate and began to eat. She put her book down to do so and to keep herself occupied she began to look around the hall to see who was up. Justin Finch-Fletchley was sitting over at the Hufflepuff table. He caught her eye and waved a bit and she smiled back, nodding. Ravenclaw was the usual gang, but Slytherin…She spotted a blonde boy who looked familiar, but she could not place him. He was facing with his back to her. His hair was almost as long as Bill's. What Slytherin had long, blonde hair? Maybe he was a transfer student from Beaubatons. 

            Hermione puzzled for a little longer and began to study him more closely. He was sitting up straight, and making sure to keep to himself. Many a fellow Slytherin passed him by without so much as a passing glance. It was very strange. He had a book in his hand, what was it? She pulled out her wand and muttered a spell. She used her newly fine-tuned vision to see what he was reading. The spell only lasted for a minute, but it was helpful and she had quite often found a use for it. The book the boy was reading was "Muggle Rights: How Wizards and Muggles Can Get Along". Hermione smiled despite herself, a boy who was interested in muggle rights, not to mention that he was in Slytherin house. With her hyper-vision fading, she tried to get a look at him but she could still not identify him. She sighed and went back to her book, occasionally glancing at the blonde boy to see when he would leave. She got through her chapter fairly quickly and looked in her bag for her Arithmancy book. 

            When she looked up again the boy had vanished. She blinked a couple of times, and looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed him. Was she losing it? Hermione shook her head, and Ginny sat next to her. "Are you all right Hermione?" she asked. Hermione smiled and chuckled, "I think so. Ginny, did you see a blonde boy with hair a bit like Bill's coming out of the hall when you came in did you?" Ginny shook her head as she helped herself to fried tomato, egg, sausage, and bacon. "Sorry Hermione, no. Why?" she asked, grinning mischievously. Hermione couldn't help but blush slightly and lie blatantly. "No reason, I just wondered. I hadn't seem him before." Ginny looked seriously at her, and asked, "Well is he cute?" "That's what I was hoping you would be able to tell me," Hermione said, smiling. "Well just how much did you see of this mysterious, gorgeous stranger?" Hermione laughed despite herself. "Ginny, I don't know that he's gorgeous. But he was reading a book on muggle rights." Ginny nodded knowingly, "That means that he's a shoe-in though, right?" Hermione had to admit that being up on muggle rights did get you shoe-d in her book. She was a muggle, after all. Ginny elbowed Hermione jokingly, waiting for her to respond  and said, "Oh, well,  I guess he's got to be cute too, eh?" 

            Hermione elbowed her back, "How's Justin, by the way?" Ginny flushed only slightly. "Damn you, how did you know?" Hermione flickered her eyes over to Justin, who was staring dreamily at Ginny. "Well you know, he wasn't looking at me like that and you're the only one in the immediate vicinity." Ginny suddenly looked stern. "Hermione, please don't tell Ron. You know he goes mental every time I get a new boyfriend. And Ron already doesn't like him because of that whole snake incident in the second year and I really don't want any trouble." Hermione smiled kindly, and replied "Don't worry Hermione. Besides, it's none of Ron's business anyway?" "What's none of Ron's business?" a male voice asked. Both girls turned their heads to face Harry who had sat next to Hermione. Hermione half nodded over at Ginny, then over to Justin. "What, Justin? You haven't told him?" Hermione gave him a warning look as Ron appeared behind Harry and sat down. Harry quickly dropped the subject. 

            Ginny asked Harry, "Did you see a boy with long-ish blonde hair walking down a corridor?" Both Ron and Harry looked thoughtful, and Harry replied "No, you Ron?" Ron shook his head, his mouth already crammed full of toast. "Looking for a new boyfriend, Ginny? I hear Neville's available," Hermione teased, winking at her. Ginny grinned, "Yeah I know but he's so…well…I like him but he's a bit of a wet hanky. Don't you think so?" Harry was piling sausages and egg on his plate but paused to say "Ginny, don't be so hard on him. He's lived with his grandmother all his life. That's bound to make anyone a wet hanky." All three shuddered at the thought of Neville's grandmother. "Yeah, I guess you're right Harry," Ron managed through a piece of toast. The three fell silent, eating and looking around at the almost full hall. Hermione looked at her watch. _No wonder it's so full in here, it's nearly 7:30_, she thought. "Thank goodness that it's thelast day of class before Christmas Holiday, ay?" Ron said when he was finished. Even Hermione had to agree, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind. _Does that mean I won't be able to see him again?_


	2. Chapter 2

            The last day of class consisted of Divination, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions. Luckily Potions had been cancelled they had been told, due to teacher absence. The three suspected that Snape had been called away on Order business. Hermione had Arithmancy with Professor Vector while Harry and Ron suffered through Divination. Why those two continued to take that class, Hermione did not know. Perhaps they liked the guaranteed Acceptable grade and it was probably better now that Firenze was teaching. 

            Professor Trelawney was on a semi-permanent leaving doing work for the Order also, and there was one very welcome edition now that Umbridge was gone, Lupin was back and the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet. The urgency of their situation seemed to have spurred him onward, given him an energy he had not had before. Not that he was fanatical like Moody, but they were learning a new defensive spell every week.  There was a kind of grim consensus among the students that all of them would become part of Dumbledore's Army. The group, now allowed, met in the great hall every Wednesday was growing bigger and bigger. Even some of the Slytherins had showed up to the last few. Hermione was glad of it, the more prepared everyone was, the better. 

Had she seen that boy at the DA meetings? She thought for a moment. No, she hadn't. It was still puzzling her. Had she imagined him? Ginny must have passed him on the way in, and goodness knew that he was noticeable enough. Yet, she hadn't seen him. Maybe the stress of organizing Dumbledore's Army on top of her normal school and prefect responsibilities was becoming too much and she had begun to hallucinate. Nice hallucination though. She would go and talk to Professor Lupin after the extra pre-Christmas holiday DA meeting. He was their official sponsor and she often consulted him after the meetings in preparation for the next. Hermione looked at her watch. Arithmancy was almost over, but all it had been all lesson was a review.

She sighed and snapped her book shut, still pondering the mysterious boy problem. She would go and talk to Remus; he would know what to do. She packed her things away and headed down to the great hall again, all the while keeping her eye out for the blond-haired boy. He was no where to be seen, and Ginny came over to tell her that she'd asked around and no one had seen him, She then rushed off to join her friends at the Ravenclaw table. Hermione was disappointed but cheered up when Harry sat next to her at lunch. 

"You look down Hermione, are you okay?" he asked as he put some fried chicken on his plate. Hermione nodded and put some cod on hers. "I think so. Remember I saw that boy this morning?" Harry grinned, "Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Mysterious?" Hermione giggled, "Yes, that's the one. I haven't seen him, and Ginny's been asking around and no one else saw him today. Maybe I imagined him." Ron joined them, and asked, "What do you need to imagine a mysterious man for? You've got me." Harry looked at Ron seriously, "Ron, we've been over this-" but Ron cut him off. "I know, I know, I was just joking." Hermione was grateful for Harry's intervention. It wasn't that she didn't like Ron, but she didn't love him, not in a romantic way. She was still trying to work her mind around being adored by an international Quidditch player, let alone getting involved with one of her best friends. 

 As if reading her mind Harry asked "How's Victor doing these days? Have you heard from him? I imagine Karkaroff is on the war-path now that the ministry has officially admitted Voldemort is back." Hermione ignored Ron's tiny flinch and replied, "I got a letter from him last week. Karkaroff is pretty angry, he says. He has even started up a more traditional Defense class." Harry nodded, and Ron asked, "You mean he's stopped teaching curses and has switched over to defensive spells?" "So it seems. I don't know how much of that is for show though, to be honest. Victor already knows most of the defensive spells they are learning, so he has set up his own group." Harry looked both impressed and pleased. "Really? On whose advice, Hermione?" Hermione looked at him and grinned, "Well, mine. We're mostly teaching at the same rate." Harry nodded and continued eating his food.

Hermione finally looked up from her plate and spotted the blonde boy again. He was walking out of the hall but by the time she had swallowed and poked Harry to point him out the boy was already gone. "Did you see him?" she hissed. Harry looked at the doorway and back at Hermione, slightly concerned. "No, Hermione I didn't. Are you okay?" Hermione was still gazing at the empty spot. "But he was…I saw him. He was right there, Harry…" he was looking at her like she was crazy. "Harry, please believe me I did see him." Harry still did not look convinced and asked. "Have you talked to anyone about this? I mean I know you saw him this morning. Maybe one of the teachers knows about him?" Hermione sighed. "You're right. I was planning to talk to Remus after the meeting tonight anyway, but maybe I should skip it tonight." Ron nodded. That might be a good idea. Harry and I can handle it, don't worry." Hermione smiled and finished off her food. Defense Against the Dark Arts was going to be a long class.


	3. Chapter 3

            Lupin let them have a party in DADA, as long as they all promised to show up to the meeting that night. The entire class was all in regular attendance anyway, so they happily agreed. They had just eaten lunch, so the party snacks were left half-eaten but nonetheless it was a party.  Everyone was chatting happily and shouting across the room. Remus was at his desk, smiling and handing out DADA themed party favors, such as small foe-glasses that you could carry like a compact for girls and pocket Sneakoscopes for the boys. Sirius had left half of his money to Lupin and half to Harry and considering the size of the Black family vault, Remus was now well provided for with his now steady teacher's salary. Life was starting to work out for everyone, Hermione thought happily. Except of course Sirius. However, she had the feeling that wherever he was, if he was dead even, he was happy. 

            Harry still could not talk about his godfather without his eyes watering. The same woman who took Neville's parents took the closest person he had to a father away from him, and it was boiling inside them. There were looks between them, Neville and Harry during the DA meetings at particular moments. Moments when Harry would talk about what it was really like to face dark wizard, or when Remus spoke about the known dark wizards. There was a fire that burned in their eyes, in their hearts that could not be quenched until Bellatrix was brought to justice and put into Azkaban for the rest of her life. Harry nudged Hermione, and looked into her eyes. "You looked really far away there." She blinked and nodded. "Why don't you go and talk to Remus now; he's not busy or anything." "Yes, now probably would be a good time to ask him." She got up and made her way to Lupin's desk. He looked up at her and smiled happily.

            "Is everything okay Hermione?" Hermione sat down in a nearby chair. "Maybe…I think I may be hallucinating though. I keep seeing someone, but no one else sees them." Remus put his chin on his hand and studied Hermione for a moment. "No one else can see this person? What do they look like?" Hermione felt herself begin to blush. "He is our age; I thought he was a transfer student at first. He has long blonde hair. I only ever see the back of him." He looked thoughtful and asked "Is there anything else you know about him?" "Oh, yes. I used that neat vision improvement spell you taught us. He was reading a muggle rights book at breakfast." Remus looked confused, "Breakfast? He was at breakfast with hundreds of other students and no one else saw him?" Hermione shook her head, "No, it was really early, only a few other people were around. Although I would expect Ginny to have passed him on her way in, she showed up moments after he left."             Remus looked puzzled. "Have you done any spells that seem to have gone wrong? Received any mysterious presents like jewelry or something you can wear?" Hermione shook her head, "No, Remus. No spells except the DA meetings and I haven't gotten any strange presents." Remus now looked very concerned. "We'll check you for enchantments at the meeting tonight. Maybe someone has put one on you." Hermione suddenly felt frightened. "How could they do that without me knowing? Wouldn't they have to be pretty powerful?" He shook his head, "Not really Hermione. When you put a hallucination enchantment on someone their mind does most of the work, actually. It's really more of a trigger than a whole spell." Hermione nodded. "So, anyone could have put that spell on me…but why would someone want to do that?" Remus shrugged, and suggested "Jealousy? Someone wants to cause you stress?" Hermione nodded, "That could be any number of people, mostly Slytherins." Remus shook his head, "You never know Hermione." 

            The magical bell sounded and everyone packed up. Remus reminded them that they should attend the last DA meeting before the break when everyone would be going home to their families. He asked Hermione when they should run the test for the enchantment and she decided that she wanted it done as soon as possible. She went over to Harry and said "Remus thinks it's some kind of enchantment." Harry looked shocked. "An enchantment? Who would?-," but Hermione waved her hand. "Forget it Harry, I'm taking care of it." He still looked worried, but said "Okay Hermione. Let me know, okay?" She smiled, "I promise Harry. Go play Quidditch with Ron until the meeting." Harry left but looked back at her a couple of times before he shut the door. She smiled, thinking it was so nice to have Harry watching out for her. He was always concerned about her, so much so that some people still speculated that they were romantically involved. It wasn't that she didn't love Harry, because she did, but she was unsure exactly how those translated in real terms. Victor adored her, that was very obvious but she just wasn't ready to make any kind of romantic involvement at age seventeen.  She spent most of her time shunting about the lower years, organize DA meetings with Harry, and doing her homework. Any free time she spent was worrying about the welfare of her parents. They helped out the Order however they could. Harry had granted them the use of Grimmauld Place as he had the rest of the Order. She turned on her heel and sat at a desk.


	4. Chapter 4

Remus sat at his desk and rummaged trough his drawers. He got up and went to his shelf, selecting a red book call "Effective Detectors: Is There a Spell on You?" Hermione sat and played with her thumbs until Remus had found what he was looking for. "Hermione, what exactly do want to do if we do find that you have an enchantment on you? There are several choices." Hermione looked up, and asked, "What are my choices, Remus?" He leafed through the book and said, "It looks like we have three options. I can dispel it immediately and we will never know who put it on you, we can leave it until it wears off or…" Hermione had the feeling that neither choice was her style. She was not intending to ride this out. "What's my last choice?" "It's tricky Hermione, and maybe hard for you to mentally manage. The spell will let you clearly see the enchantment as soon as someone tells you what it really is. It may be purely in your mind, or based on some kind of physical being. If you are lucky, enough to see the enchantment when someone else is around and they tell you, you will be able to switch between the enchantment and reality. It takes a lot to balance this option Hermione, if it even works." Hermione nodded. "I want to do that." 

Remus looked at her seriously. "Hermione, you're seriously emotionally overloaded as it is. I don't know if I should do this." Hermione stood up and walked to his desk. She looked him hard in the eye. "Remus, what else am I supposed to do? Let this person get away with it, or let it overload me until it wears me down?" He smiled, "Oh, Hermione if only you were a little older…" She shook her head. "If only things were different. But they aren't, and nothing can change until this is all over." She looked away, her eyes tearing up. The magical world had changed her life, made it so much more dangerous. She talked to her parents via flu powder every night now just to make sure they were okay. Ron had failed to mature again this year and Harry was still not over his godfather's death. She blinked and she felt Remus standing behind her. He was not sure what to do, she knew. 

She turned around, put her arms around his shoulders and he hugged her. "Hermione…" She shook her head as she let go and wiped the tears away with her robe sleeve. "Do it for me Remus. This is one less complication in my life. You know I need that right now." He nodded and let go, and went to his desk. He pulled out a pensieve and handed it to her. "First you should really try to empty your mind of any extra worries." Hermione had to laugh, "Which ones do you think are extra?" He looked at her seriously, "Hermione, I won't do it unless you empty your head a bit." She took her wand out and began to draw out the thoughts. Victor, Harry, Ron, her parents and the Weasley family, her prefect duties came one after the other and dropped into the bowl.

When she opened her eyes, the bowl was almost brimming over. She raised her eyebrows as Remus chuckled and handed her a small silver brooch with a black stone in it. "What's this?" she asked as she pinned it to her uniform. "I put a counter-spell on that brooch while you were emptying your mind. Concentrate on the memory of that boy." She did so, and she heard Remus say, "Ah." "What?" she asked. "The stone turned blue, which confirms that there is an enchantment on you. You need to wear it from now on and hopefully you will be able to see that boy. Then you must get someone you trust to tell you the truth to tell you what it is. What you do after that is your choice." She asked, "How do I turn it off?" "You touch the stone and concentrate on the fact the enchantment is only in your mind. Remember that I told you this enchantment is mostly in your mind? This brooch acts as a sort of switch for your mind, while you focus on either ignoring or embracing the spell." 

            Hermione nodded and picked up her bag to leave. "One last thing, Remus. Did you mean what you said about me being older?" Remus responded in kind, "Did you mean what you said about after this is all over?" Hermione smiled, "An answer for an answer? Yes, I did." "So did I." She nodded and walked out, shutting the door behind her. She did not have time to think about Remus, Victor, or Harry now. Mostly she just wanted to sleep but there was still the DA meeting later on, and she had not even made it through the last of her classes. Granted Potions had been cancelled but she was tired and it wasn't even the end of a normal day. Of course, she thought, today hadn't exactly been a normal day.


End file.
